The Obama administration is considering a change in the law for the military commissions at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, that would clear the way for detainees facing the death penalty to plead guilty without a full trial.

The provision could permit military prosecutors to avoid airing the details of brutal interrogation techniques. It could also allow the five detainees who have been charged with the Sept. 11 attacks to achieve their stated goal of pleading guilty to gain what they have called martyrdom.

Liberals still hate the commissions, and conservatives (and a lot of liberals, including this one) don't like the martyrdom. How about this? If the 9/11 scum want to plead guilty, then indict them in the legitimate American legal system (because, as the saying goes, you can indict a ham sandwich), and let them make their plea there. Then, do not execute them. Deny the terrorists martyrdom, show the world that American jurisprudence still works, and they'll be there in the Supermax for future interrogators to learn more about the inner workings of al-Qaeda, or -- the flip side -- what really went down at Gitmo.